Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar! This time out, we bring you a slab of garage punk, a synth based banger, a couple of tunes with a rock and metal core, and more besides. It represents another great round of shining a light on individual tracks from a musical underground, and in a couple of cases, definitely suggests more greatness ahead. As always, we hope you like what you hear…

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By taking a bass part that swings and recalls the melody of ‘It Ain’t What You Do’, Sicky’s ‘I’m Happy If You’re Happy’ automatically has something of a retro feel, despite flaunting a modern production sound and various other audio tricks. On top of the old school bassline, you’ll find layered vocals that sound as if they’ve been sourced from a stretched recording, acoustic guitar work that bends with the sounds of an elastic band – and possibly inspired by some of the quirks present on material by They Might Be Giants – and a layer of bells adding an unexpected pop twist. There’s also a children’s choir that sounds as if they’ve been instructed to make cat noises. Altogether, it’s an arrangement that could annoy as much as entertain, but if you can find a liking for it, entertainment is pretty much guaranteed,

A pulsing rhythm and 80s synth come together flawlessly to create the core of ‘Dancing In The Midnight Howl’ by We Are Bodies. Whereas a lot of synth-based material can feel cold and detached, this duo’s sound is given more of a human quality thanks to a strong pop influenced vocal – augmented by a little reverb for extra depth – and a rather unexpected guitar accompaniment. It’s due to the guitar that this song works so well: via various bursts of sound, the melody is given a strange and almost prog-ish overtone which compliments the voice in such a way that this eventually sounds like something with a much fuller arrangement. Eventually, the guitar led hooks and repetitive rhythms lead to a piece of alternative pop that deserves repeated listens.

The Hellflowers’ ‘Come On Let’s Dance’ (as featured on the Rum Bar Records 2024 free sampler) is a superb piece of garage punk. Their current single ‘I Cried’ is a little more melodic, but still doesn’t skimp on that all important Hellflowers energy. The main riffs are a little less punky, but there’s a sharpness and buoyancy to the arrangement that’ll still please fans of great guitar driven sounds, but the real selling point here is Christina’s vocal. Throughout the number, she latches onto a bubblegum punk tone that recalls old CBGB’s adjacent fare like Holly & The Italians, delivering huge notes that showcase a great tone. Factor in some quirky percussion, and you’ve got the makings of an underground hit.

John Dowler’s Vanity Project serves up something wonderfully old school with ‘Hunnicut’s Van’. The guitar driven track is dominated by a buoyant riff that takes a classic power pop sound and fuses that with a Jellyfish-esque rumpty tumpty rhythm, which is enough for it to be taken to heart by genre fans with immediate effect. Even with a fuzzy production sound making the pop-rock a little rougher and distorting Dowler’s vocal just a little, the sugary melody cuts through at almost every turn, resulting in a really hooky listen. An old fashioned middle eight slows everything down for an equally old fashioned hazy jangle, giving listeners another strong insight into John’s broadly retro sound. Approaching these three minutes as a whole, everything just works. It mightn’t be flashy, but with an early 70s sound dressed in some 90s inspired finery, this single represents another banger from the legendary Half A Cow label.

‘Fragments’ by Lies We Sold is a superb piece of metal. From its opening melodic strains where soaring guitars weave an atmospheric melody and a filtered vocal hints at something big, there’s immediately something that catches the ear. The slow, almost bombastic chorus that works a melodic voice against a huge riff reinforces the band’s melodic edge, but elsewhere, there’s a sledgehammer crunch linking everything with a sound that’s bound to please a broad spectrum of metalcore fans. The chugging, downtuned riffs bring classic, heavy breakdowns, whilst an intense, growling voice adds a contemporary edge. Once everything slips back into the huge, melodic hook to finish, there’s little doubt that this track really captures something epic.

A steady mid tempo, a jangling guitar and a light indie pop vocal come together brilliantly on Rebecka Reinhard’s ‘Strange Week’. During the verse, the performer weaves a great melodic sound, which is used effectively to create a rising tension. When the slightly noisier chorus hits – with traces of Fiona Apple and other great 90s sounds – the crunchy guitar unleashes a fuzzed up riff that acts as a brilliant contrast for Rebecka’s wavering voice and harmony drenched hook. With a lyric calling out misogyny alongside various phrases sharing an escalating self doubt, it’s easy to understand why Reinhard has been dubbed “the only true sad girl in Stockholm”, but despite its pointed themes, this single is so well arranged, it ends up feeling strangely uplifting…

The slow sax break that opens Ski Team’s ‘Me’ immediately lulls the listener into thinking they’re in for some smooth pop. Even when a moderate beat arrives and a light electronica vibe begins to flesh out the sound, the song still gives the impression that it’ll be a low key affair. The addition of the vocal changes everything: adopting a light indie pop tone, the voice steers everything further towards the electro-alternative, and a busier rhythm pulls the listener further into a great soundscape where the pop of Still Corners meets with a lax vocal inspired by Billie Eilish. Given time to settle, this single actually becomes thrilling due to its crisp production, and semi-sharp edges contrasted with an easy coolness. It doesn’t have an immediate hook, but in time, the layered voices that allow the song’s title to sweep beneath the busier elements will stick with the listener in a way that feels unexpectedly smart.

Last up, here’s a new angle on something familiar. The Dead Flowers Graves have taken the 1997 Misfits recording ‘Dig Up Her Bones’ and made it their own. By transposing the once punky riff to a doomy, slow arrangement, everything now sounds incredibly sinister, and by replacing a fairly generic punk vocal with a huge, female croon, the melody now takes on more of a spooky presence, especially when drenched in echo. Also, from a musical standpoint, the contrast of heavy guitar and horror themed organ swirls works brilliantly throughout. When breaking into a huge chorus, the band shares a definite confidence that ensures everything sounds grander than the recording’s medium sized budget might have otherwise allowed.

December 2024